Patterned curtain

ABSTRACT

A patterned curtain panel is lengthwise pleated in symmetry with a pattern on the panel by providing hooking holes disposed symmetrically with the pattern in a heading strip along the top edge of the panel. Crosswise contraction of the panel automatically forms pleats in the same. By placing the hooking holes so that alternate wide and narrow lengthwise sections or strips of the panels are defined, crosswise contraction of the panel, for instance, by means of a pull string, causes the wide sections to be pleated while the narrow sections remain flat.

United States Patent 1191 Weckbrodt I 14 1 Feb. 12, 1974 PATTERNED CURTAIN [76] Inventor: Ilse Weckbrodt, Michelau, Germany [22] Filed: Sept. 13, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 288,535

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 75,336, Sept. 25, 1970,

abandoned.

[521 U.S.C1. ..160/348,160/390 51 Int. Cl A47h 13/14 581 Field of Search 160/348, 330, 383390 56 References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 359,896 3/1887 Shinn et a1 160/348 X 2,718,923 9/1955 Moser 160/348 2,633,912 4/1953 Thom son 160/348 3,335,762 8/1967 Noyel..... 160/348 X 2,149,011 2/1939 Fiscliel...

Fischel' 160/386 10/1950 Hess 160/348 6/1967 Stroweis 160/348 X Primary Examiner-Mervin Stein Assistant Examiner-Philip C. Kannan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hane, Baxley & Spiecens [57] ABSTRACT A patterned curtain panel is lengthwise pleated in symmetry with a pattern on the panel by providing hooking holes disposed symmetrically with the pattern in a heading strip along the top edge of the panel. Crosswise contraction .of the panel automatically forms pleats in the same. By placing the hooking holes so that alternate wide and narrow lengthwise sections or strips of the panels are defined, crosswise contraction of the panel, for instance, by means of a pull string, causes the wide sections to be pleated while the narrow sections remain flat.

3 Claims, 5'Drawing Figures PATTERNED CURTAIN This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 75,336, filed Sept. 25, 1970 now abandoned.

This invention relates to a patterned curtain havin a carrying band or heading which is woven in or knitted into and along one edge of the curtain, and more particularly to a curtain the heading of which has hooking holes or loops for curtain hooks. The curtain itself is either also woven or made in some other suitable manner.

BACKGROUND In order to set a curtain in vertical pleats in the customary manner, the curtain, which is generally hung from a curtain rod, is gathered or frilled in the region of the previously sewn-on carrying band. This operation requires special skill and experience and is, for this reason, generally undertaken by interior decorators. For the inexperienced, the setting of uniform pleats in a curtain presents considerable difficulties, especially due to the width of the curtain panel, which has to be taken into consideration. I It is difficult to sew a'separately manufactured carrying band onto a patterned curtain to fit exactly so that the spacing of the hooking holes or loops is completely in accordance with the patternof the curtain panel. As a rule, upon' sewing on, the curtain panel shifts in relation to the considerably more rigid carrying band, so that accuratesetting of the pleats so as to match the pattern is not possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to produce a patterned curtain which can be set each time even by inexperienced persons without difficulty and with completely uniform pleats, or correspondingly frilled or gathered in accordance with the pattern of the curtain, the present invention provides that the hooking holes or loops of the carrying band or heading, which is woven or worked into the curtain are spaced one from another in accordance with the pattern spacing.

The important advantage which. is thus achieved is that the patterned curtain, before it is hung up, is set in the, desired pleats which are bound to match with the pattern, as the hooking holes or loops are exactly positioned-in accordance with the repeat of the pattern. This makes work considerably easier for the housewife, and she does not have to employ an interior decorator for the hanging-up and exact setting of the pleats of new curtains thus saving the high costs charged .by a decorator. The curtain, already pleated, can then be hung up on the curtain rod. The conformity of the pleats of the curtain with its patterning brings about a particularly striking effect.

It is also within the scope of the invention that sections of the carrying band with several hooking holes or loops are arranged at a spacing from one another which is smaller than the length of the sections. Each of these sections is set in pleats, and the hooking holes or loops thereof are each engaged with one curtain hook thereby determining the hanging of the pleats. The part of the curtain remaining in each case between two adjacent sections remains flat so that flat parts of the curtain alternate with pleated parts. This special type of pleating also takes into consideration the pattern which is woven or knitted into the curtain. Because of the arrangement of the hooking holes or loops, even an inexperiencd person can carry out the setting of the pleats without difficulty, and in a very short time.

The woven-in or knitted-in carrying band or heading is preferably arranged spaced apart from the respective edge of the curtain panel. As a result, a small overhang is formed which hides the curtain rod when the curtain is hung and avoids a gap between the curtain and ceiling, if desired. g

It is further preferred that the woven-in or knitted-in carrying band or heading has at least on pull thread by means of which the curtain breadth can be drawn together to form pleats. Advantageously, two pull threads, that is to say, one along each longitudinal edge of the woven-in or knitted-in carrying band, are provided. These threads facilitate setting of the pleats of the curtain, more especially the setting of the desire pleats.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Two preferred embodiments of the present invention are more fully described by way of example hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which:

FIG. 1 shows a curtain in the unpleated state;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the curtain set in pleats;

. FIG. 3 shows a further exemplification of a curtain in the unpleated state;

FIG. 4 shows this curtain after setting the pleats;and

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of part of this curtain set in pleats.

The woven or otherwise produced curtain panel 1 includes a repeat pattern of parallelrows of decorations 2. At a spacing e from the edge 3 of the curtain panel a carrying band or heading 4 preferably including a meandering reinforcing thread 5 is worked, for instance, woven or knittedinto the curtain panel or otherwise secured to the curtain panel. This heading 4, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes hooking holes 6 alternately in wide spacings a and narrow spacings b one from another. The locations of the holes correspond to the repeat pattern in that in eachcase a vertical and horizontal row of. pattern decorations 2 is placed in the center between two adjacent hooking holes 6.

Due to the arrangement of the heading band 4 at the spacing e from the edge 3, there is formed between the upper edge of heading 4 and the edge 3 of the curtain panel 1 a narrow strip 7 which, with a hung-up curtain, forms an overhang.

Along each longitudinal edge of the heading is worked in a pull string or thread 8. To form the pleats in the curtain panel it is frilled or gathered by pulling on these two pull threads. As a result, the wider spacings a between two hooking holes 6 are shortened by pulling together the curtain panel so that in each case one strip 11 with several adjacent pleats 9 is formed. The narrower spacings b between two hooking holes 6, as can be seen in FIG. 2, remain unpleated. Thus flat strips 10 are formed between each two adjacent pleated strips 11.

The hooking holes 6 of the curtain of the specific embodiment according to FIGS. 3 to 5 are arranged in sections 12,,which in each case, for example, include six succeeding hooking holes 6 with the spacing 0. These sections 12 have the width d and alternate with narrower sections having a width b. The decorations 2 of the pattern worked into the curtain panel are disposed symmetrically with the sections.

No pull strings or threads are provided in the heading of the curtain according to FIGS. 3 to 5.

Before hanging the curtain, it is gathered in each of 5 the wide sections 12 to produce several pleats 9 and thus form a pleated strip. A hook 13 of a curtain pulley 14 is now threaded through the hooking holes 6 in strip 11 thereby holding the pleats 9 together. As it is now evident, the pull threads 8 as are used in the exemplitied embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, are not necessary.

Between pleated strips 11 there remain flat surfaces of the curtain, due to the narrow spacing b between adjacent wide sections 12 as previously explained.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to certain now preferred examples and embodiments of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended therefore, to cover all such changes and modifications in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A curtain comprising:

a rectangular panel made of pliable material and including a repeat pattern in the form of a plurality of spaced apart rows of decorations extending parallel to two opposite edges of the panel;

a heading strip incorporated in the panel material and extending parallel to a third edge of the panel across the width thereof, said heading strip including a plurality of lengthwise spaced hooking holes, each of said holes being disposed intermediate two adjacent rows of said decoration and grouped in alternate sections of different width; and

pull means coacting, with the hooking holes the length of said heading strip for crosswise contracting said panel, actuation of said pull means contracting the wide sections while leaving the narrow section substantially flat, contraction of the wide sections causing lengthwise pleating of the respective lengthwise panel portion, the spacing of the rows of decorations and the spacing of the hooking holes being so correlated that the decorations in the flat sections and on the pleats in the pleated sections are centered upon actuation of .the pull means.

2. The curtain according to claim 1 wherein said hooking holes are grouped in alternate lengthwise sections of difierent width.

3. The curtain according to claim 1 wherein said pull means comprises at least one continuous pull string extending across the length of the panel secured thereto and having a pull portion protruding from one lengthwise edge of the panel.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,791,436 Dated ruary 12, 1974 Il's-e Weckbrodt Inventor(s) It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet insert [30] Foreign App lication Priority Data Germany P1949 975.3 Oct. 3, 1969 Signed and sealed this 17th day of September: I974.

(SEAL) Attest:

MCCOY M. GIBSON JR. C. MARSHALL DANN Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 1 FORM PC4050 (w'69) uscoMM-Dc eos'ra-pas Q U.S, GOVERNMENT PRINTlNG OFFICE 1 19GB 0-366-334, 

1. A curtain comprising: a rectangular panel made of pliable material and including a repeat pattern in the form of a plurality of spaced apart rows of decorations extending parallel to two opposite edges of the panel; a heading strip incorporated in the panel material and extending parallel to a third edge of the panel across the width thereof, said heading strip including a plurality of lengthwise spaced hooking holes, each of said holes being disposed intermediate two adjacent rows of said decoration and grouped in alternate sections of different width; and pull means coacting with the hooking holes the length of said heading strip for crosswise contracting said panel, actuation of said pull means contracting the wide sections while leaving the narrow section substantially flat, contraction of the wide sections causing lengthwise pleating of the respective lengthwise panel portion, the spacing of the rows of decorations and the spacing of the hooking holes being so correlated that the decorations in the flat sections and on the pleats in the pleated sections are centered upon actuation of the pull means.
 2. The curtain according to claim 1 wherein said hooking holes are grouped in alternate lengthwise sections of different width.
 3. The curtain according to claim 1 wherein said pull means comprises at least one continuous pull string extending across the length of the panel secured thereto and having a pull portion protruding from one lengthwise edge of the panel. 